. >>> the pentagon is reducing the number of aircraft carriers in the persian gulf to one from two. the defense department made that announcement yesterday as deep automatic spending cuts loom for defense and domestic programs here. those cuts will kick in at the beginning of next month. and unless congress agrees to an alternate budget plan before then. defense secretary leon panetta says severe military cuts would harm the nation's security and the economy. >> we will furlough as many as 800,000 department of defense civilians around the country for up to 22 days. they could face a 20% cut in their salary. you don't think that's going to impact or economy? >> some economists estimated a march 1 sequestration could result in up to a million people losing their jobs. >>> today some house democrats are set to unveil their plans to curb gun violence. the 15 proposals are said to be similar to those proposed by the obama administration, including background checks on all gun purchases and bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. but some proposals are expected to have littl